Persona: Beyond the Grave
by paragade13
Summary: Fear can be fatal, for it pushes humanity closer to the edge of uncertainty, driving us closer to death or worse...yet some are willing to turn around and face that fear, pushing against it. Will they be able to stop the terror from reaching the realm of the living? Or will every living being be met with a fate worse than death?


Date: unknown

Time: unknown

Location: unknown

Darkness, despair, and chaos…those were the only words that could describe the current scenery. Buildings reduced to rubble, ashes scattered throughout the air, and neither the sun, moon or stars were visible in the pitch-black sky. Whatever the pile of destruction used to be no longer mattered, for that is all that will remain. There was little to no light produced from the ashes, for it made even the smallest detail of the setting hard to make out. It contained a vast amount of silence, for no living thing was present to witness such atrocity.

Suddenly, something began moving under some rubble, gasping violently for air as they struggle to climb out from the destroyed concrete that buried them. It was a kid, or at least a teenager that emerged from the pile of debris, panting as if he was on the brink of exhaustion. Only his left arm and barely his head was visible, squirming around as they pull himself out. Desperate, he waved his arm around to grab hold of anything that would give him leverage. Soon his hand felt what seemed to be a sturdy metal beam, possibly what used to be a street light. He wrapped as much of his arm around it, locking himself as he began kicking what's down below to push him upwards. As he does so, he felt pieces of shrapnel, glass, and metal scraping against his legs, resulting in him screaming in agony. That didn't concern him entirely, for he used every bit of adrenaline he had left to gain freedom. Emerging slowly by the neck, then the chest, and finally his worn-out legs.

Once he was entirely free he collapsed onto the ground, landing on his shaking hands, dirtied by both ashes and his blood. He let out a heavy cough, which resulted in splattering out more blood from his mouth. It was hard for him to see around him, but the puddle of his blood started to show a reflection of himself.

He stared into the puddle, observing the condition of himself. His black, disheveled hair has been grizzled with ash and dirt. Crimson kept leaking from his mouth, ears, and nose, possibly due to the cause of the destruction. His Azure colored eyes were filled with fear and disbelief, for he did not know what happened…or how this could have happened.

After a minute of collecting his bearings, he suddenly let out a scream, echoing across the chaos. It's as if every bit of pain across his body has attacked him all at once, causing his entire body to fall to the ground as tears shed from his eyes. As much as he needed to rest, he needed to move as soon as possible.

_I must…find…the others…_he thought to himself, struggling to stand on his two feet. It took him a while to find equilibrium as he stood up, enduring the pain as he began to take one step at a time. Thoughts of despair and disbelief clouded his mind once he began exploring the ruin in front of him.

_How…How could this happen? We were ready…we were prepared…we had each other…and we weren't strong enough…Why…? Why did…this…_Suddenly confusion mixed itself in his mind. _Wait…we? Who…who am I talking about? Why can't…I remember?_

The kid looked around, observing his surroundings as if it would help him recollect any memories at all…but none has triggered any sense of déjà vu. All it did was cause more confusion as to the thoughts of 'why' or 'how' occurred, and he couldn't recall the reason for them. Attempts after attempts of recollection have done nothing but flooded him with anger and guilt, almost as if he holds himself responsible for this destruction.

After a bit of time, he collapsed on his hands and knees once more, near the edge of a chasm, looking down into the abyss that held nothing but darkness itself. The kid was unable to tell if there was a bottom or not. He kept staring into the abyss, eyes deathly blank as his hand slips, causing him to fall on his chest, arms dangling from the edge as he kept staring into the abyss…until his eyes widen with fear.

From the darkness emerged two red, glowing orbs, distant from the kid's face as he breathed heavily. He had no strength to move away, nor could he look away as terror paralyzed his mind, leaving him with no other option but stare at the orbs. He felt as if…the orbs were staring back.

His suspicion was confirmed as the orbs began to move as if they were eyes that were studying the kid as he lied in its sight. His lips trembled as they began moving closer, becoming larger than what he realized. Soon enough they became close enough to where he was nearly the eyes produced. Pitch white pupils that were surrounded by blood-red irises, faded in between as they see how terrified its prey was.

"What…do you want…from me…?" he managed to say, his heart beating rapidly as he kept staring.

Soon the creature's eyes shifted to the left, rotating clockwise from the kid's point of view. This confused him until he saw a silhouette of what appears to be a hand, raised above him. With the sudden realization, he now understands what the creature is planning to do.

"What…What do you want from me?!" he yelled from the top of his lungs.

No matter how much. He screamed, no one could respond to his cries of desperation as the creature broke the support of the cliff, causing the edge to break off and fall into the abyss, with the kid included. He used every bit of energy he had to call for help, so he had no choice but to plummet into the darkness without letting out a single sound. The thought of what could be at the bottom flooded his mind, none of them were absolute except one result: death.

Stricken by terror, he made one last attempt to remember every single memory that contained happiness before his fate is sealed. However, no matter how little or momentous the memory was, he was unable to find anything. Even if his memories were too clouded, he recalled nothing but misery, despair, regret...and his name.

Katsu Ishido

Katsu

"Katsu!" cried a voice.

* * *

Date: April 8, 20XX

Time: 18:24

Location: Unknown

Suddenly his eyes open as he gasped with surprise. He looked around and saw he was on a train with a travel bag in his lap. Compared to how he appeared earlier, his Azure eyes showed little to no fear, his shiny, black hair was less disheveled and dirty, and not a single wound on his body…except an old faded scar on the right side of his neck. Katsu was breathing heavily as he deduced that what happened was a dream…or at least he hopes it was nothing more than a dream.

"A-are you ok Katsu?" the girl on his right asked, who looked extremely similar to Katsu. She had the same eye and hair color, as well as matching skin color, but her hair is longer to where it reaches her shoulders, as well as wearing glasses with green temples.

"I-I'm fine, sis," he said, rubbing the back of his neck as he gave a semi-nervous smile to prevent further worry from his sister. "It…It was only a nightmare."


End file.
